Let me clarify up front that this post has been written purely based on whatever limited knowledge I have about Steve Jobs and Apple. And believe me, that knowledge is indeed limited.
There wont be any statistical references anywhere, so if you see some numbers, it is basically a gut feel that I have.
This post is driven more by assumptions than by facts.
But the good news is that, I am willing to publish all comments that help me correct my views, if they are proven to be wrong.
*****************************
Unless you are KumbhaKarna or Rip Van Winkle or any other such character, you should know by now that Steve Jobs, may his soul rest in peace, is no longer alive. If you are indeed KK or RVW or aosc, you now know that SJ is no longer alive.
There have been enough and more eulogies written about him. Lots more people are still writing one in his honor. I don't believe, this post would ever be classified as one.
Since it is not considered good etiquette to question some of the actions of the dead, I am now redirecting my questions to all the fans of Steve Jobs and his legacy.
What prompted me to write this post is this: Most of my contacts on Facebook, posted RIP messages on the day Steve Jobs died. The irony was that most of them didn't own an Apple product, except perhaps the iPod which they bought 10 years after its first launch. And that was because, the iPod has probably become affordable only now.
And therein lies my first complaint against Apple. Why are their products so damn expensive, at least in India? Why do they launch all sorts of new products in markets across the world and yet, they launch the same product in India, around the time the next version of it is being released elsewhere. And even then, the price for which it is available, is exorbitant.
For every new product, or the latest version of an existing product, that they release, I definitely feel discriminated against, simply because I am in India. I cannot buy their original product in India and have to resort to importing one. And even if I manage to get one into India legally, Apple just doesn't provide any service support for the device.
This pattern can be observed starting from their iP* devices to all their *Mac* machines. Every other competitor of Apple is tapping into the Indian consumer's purchasing power, but Apple chooses not to. The balance sheet of Apple would clearly show that they are not at all impacted by this approach. But as an Indian residing in India, I feel that I am being treated as someone who is worthy enough of only the old models and yet, as someone who still has to get these old ones by paying a premium.
Next, I read somewhere that Apple doesn't have any hardware or software production centres in India. There was one sometime back and even that was closed. Again, one has to wonder why Apple would adopt such a stand, when all Silicon Valley companies have shops in India. Yet, as mentioned before, their financial scorecard shows that this decision has not impacted them in any which way.
And despite this, so many Indians felt the need to express their anguish about SJ's death. Could that be because these people are all currently NRIs or even ex-Indians? Are these the ones who own Apple devices by virtue of not being in India? Then what about those in India who were upset?
Finally, there is also one thing that really troubles me. I still don't see SJ as an inventor. He created devices that were not way ahead of its time; he created products that were perhaps 3-4 years ahead of its time. Was the iPod "invented" when Gramophone Records were used or even when Cassettes were used? That would have meant "ahead of time". And sorry, I also don't buy the statement that these devices are life changing. These are at best, lifestyle changing.
You could be perfectly right when saying that I have written this piece purely with the "grapes are sour" attitude, but the fact is that I still want to own an Apple product. But at no point in time, am I going to feel the urge to eulogise Steve Jobs or Apple.
There wont be any statistical references anywhere, so if you see some numbers, it is basically a gut feel that I have.
This post is driven more by assumptions than by facts.
But the good news is that, I am willing to publish all comments that help me correct my views, if they are proven to be wrong.
*****************************
Unless you are KumbhaKarna or Rip Van Winkle or any other such character, you should know by now that Steve Jobs, may his soul rest in peace, is no longer alive. If you are indeed KK or RVW or aosc, you now know that SJ is no longer alive.
There have been enough and more eulogies written about him. Lots more people are still writing one in his honor. I don't believe, this post would ever be classified as one.
Since it is not considered good etiquette to question some of the actions of the dead, I am now redirecting my questions to all the fans of Steve Jobs and his legacy.
What prompted me to write this post is this: Most of my contacts on Facebook, posted RIP messages on the day Steve Jobs died. The irony was that most of them didn't own an Apple product, except perhaps the iPod which they bought 10 years after its first launch. And that was because, the iPod has probably become affordable only now.
And therein lies my first complaint against Apple. Why are their products so damn expensive, at least in India? Why do they launch all sorts of new products in markets across the world and yet, they launch the same product in India, around the time the next version of it is being released elsewhere. And even then, the price for which it is available, is exorbitant.
For every new product, or the latest version of an existing product, that they release, I definitely feel discriminated against, simply because I am in India. I cannot buy their original product in India and have to resort to importing one. And even if I manage to get one into India legally, Apple just doesn't provide any service support for the device.
This pattern can be observed starting from their iP* devices to all their *Mac* machines. Every other competitor of Apple is tapping into the Indian consumer's purchasing power, but Apple chooses not to. The balance sheet of Apple would clearly show that they are not at all impacted by this approach. But as an Indian residing in India, I feel that I am being treated as someone who is worthy enough of only the old models and yet, as someone who still has to get these old ones by paying a premium.
Next, I read somewhere that Apple doesn't have any hardware or software production centres in India. There was one sometime back and even that was closed. Again, one has to wonder why Apple would adopt such a stand, when all Silicon Valley companies have shops in India. Yet, as mentioned before, their financial scorecard shows that this decision has not impacted them in any which way.
And despite this, so many Indians felt the need to express their anguish about SJ's death. Could that be because these people are all currently NRIs or even ex-Indians? Are these the ones who own Apple devices by virtue of not being in India? Then what about those in India who were upset?
Finally, there is also one thing that really troubles me. I still don't see SJ as an inventor. He created devices that were not way ahead of its time; he created products that were perhaps 3-4 years ahead of its time. Was the iPod "invented" when Gramophone Records were used or even when Cassettes were used? That would have meant "ahead of time". And sorry, I also don't buy the statement that these devices are life changing. These are at best, lifestyle changing.
You could be perfectly right when saying that I have written this piece purely with the "grapes are sour" attitude, but the fact is that I still want to own an Apple product. But at no point in time, am I going to feel the urge to eulogise Steve Jobs or Apple.
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